The Evolution of Steve Albini: ‘If the Dumbest Person Is on Your Side, You’re on the Wrong Side’

Kurt, Dave and Chris:

First let me apologize for taking a couple of days to put this outline together. When I spoke to Kurt I was in the middle of making a Fugazi album1, but I thought I would have a day or so between records to sort everything out. My schedule changed unexpectedly, and this is the first moment I've had to go through it all. Apology

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In some sense, Albini’s contrition was the act of a premier hater realizing that the final frontier of hating is one’s own past. But it was also a welcome way for Albini to show that people can continue to grow at any age—and it set the stage for him to continue to grow as a producer as well.

Quotes:

“I’m talking to you,” he began, “because the old shit doesn’t work anymore.”

The established patterns for releasing music, going on tour, and putting work into culture, he explained, were no longer relevant. The infrastructure, the audiences, and the money just weren’t there.

“I don’t know where things are going,” he continued, “But I know the

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It was while reading a book called Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael Azerrad, about the history of punk and hardcore—which is a world I’ve also come from—that I started to think about the label format, especially the indie label format, as a really nice analogue. Because there’s this beautiful moment of all these great indie labels where they ... See more